“Gender” and “Genitals” are Not the Same Thing
The ongoing conversation about gender has become incredibly divisive thanks to disingenuous politicians stoking the fires for their gain. As more people become openly transgender and find ways to feel comfortable in their skin, others find ways to attack them for it.
At the crux of the issue is the confusion between the societal construct of “gender” and people’s actual biological genitals. They are not the same thing and one does not equal another, something generations of humans have been acutely aware of for centuries.
Being Trans isn’t New
Based on the way some people talk, you’d think that being transgender is something new. People treat it like it’s part of the fictional “woke culture war” manufactured by sketchy politicians like Ron “Never Going to Be President” DeSantis.
In truth, the concept of more than two genders has been around for more than 3,000 years, if not longer. Ancient texts in India discuss a third trans-feminine gender that is a common part of society. It doesn’t stop there, of course, as trans has been part of various religions and cultures.
Several cultures across Africa dating back to Ancient Egypt have had classification for third-genders as well as transgenders. Both Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece have long histories of mixing genders, not to mention early transgender practices.
As such, the conversation that’s being had today about transgender issues is ridiculous. History establishes two things. First, transgender people are nothing new and have been accepted parts of various cultures. Second, gender is a societal concept, not a biological one.
Cultural Markers
In modern discourse, particularly in certain circles, being a man or a woman is associated with genetic and physical attributes. To them, DNA and genitals define gender in this context. For some people, that is enough. The problem with that is genitals do not equal gender.
Manliness is often associated with being a protector, a provider, and a leader. Similarly, womanliness is usually associated with compassion, empathy, and loyalty. None of those attributes, and many other gender-specific ones, are genetic. They are purely cultural.
Yes, male and female genitalia that exist for the purpose of procreation are a thing. Yes, there are DNA markers that define certain secondary male and female sexual characteristics. It is what it is. At the same time, genetics do not define cultural gender identities.
It’s not difficult to look through history and see how gender has evolved through various cultures and periods. Swinging back through modern-day North America, much of this culture is rooted in the Puritan ideals that escaped Europe to birth it. That’s at the base of so many problems today.
Gender as a Weapon
Modern society has completely conflated gender and genitals to the point that some people are willing to kill over it. At the very least, they are willing to deny a subset of our culture basic human rights, casting trans people as the villains in their misguided and sadly facetious passion plays.
This has become an era of weaponizing the very concept of cultural gender, primarily for crass political gain. Genitalia is what you are born with. Gender is what society tells you that means. And neither of those things are permanent, which isn’t new.
Going back to some of those previously mentioned cultures, men and women have been making physical adjustments to their genitalia for centuries. Transitioning in both a physical and cultural sense between genders today is merely an extension of very old practices.
No one can tell how you should or should not feel about any of this. That being said, stop acting like this is new at all. Don’t fall for politicians and wannabe influencers who confuse gender and genitalia to gain your support for personal and selfish reasons. Hate brings nothing.
